Busan meet was just the start, best yet to come, says National Record holder Siva Subaramani

The Indian pole vaulter came agonizingly close to breaching his own NR in last week's international meet.

History maker Siva Subaramani came very close to breaking his own national record, which he set last year, a few days back at the Busan International Pole Vault Meet clearing 5.30m (missing his NR mark by 0.01m). The journey of Siva from Thanjavur known as the "Rice Bowl of India" has been inspirational and he is the lone male pole vaulter fighting it out at the national and international stages. He also broke his own national record last year vaulting 5.31m at the National Games in Gujarat.

The 27-year-old started his journey with swimming and in a small time frame participated in the senior nationals. "Many insisted me to continue with swimming but when I saw my elder brother playing pole vault then I thought why not try this sport which looks different from other sports. My family, brother and PT teacher supported me a lot when I took up pole vault but they asked me not to take this as a career option as the sport was very niche at that time," Siva Subaramani told Khel Now in an exclusive chat.

Kuldeep Kumar, another Indian participant in the same meet, finished second clearing 4.90m in the U-20 men's category. "Comparatively the sport has evolved well with many youngsters taking up pole vault. In the beginning, there used to be very less competitors at the nationals but now the scenario has completely changed with many opting for this sport," added Siva.

Busan International Pole Vault meeting

The athlete from Tamil Nadu started the Busan meet on a positive note clearing his first hurdle at 4.80m. He continued to move further ahead and breached the 5m mark with ease. Siva couldn't clear the next two vaults at (5.10m and 5.20m) in the first attempt but came back strongly, clearing the distance and also the next at 5.30m with ease.

"To be honest, this is just the beginning and I have started to peak at the right time. The season has just begun with several competitions lined up. Although I got close to my PB, this is just the start as I know the capacity I possess and am eager to perform better. Overall, I am neither happy nor sad and looking to the Interstates scheduled in the next few days," said Siva.

Last year the national record holder took part at the same meet and finished clearing 5m in tough conditions. "I did not go with much expectations last year and did not have enough training before the meet. But in spite of the rain, I put in my best and breached the 5m mark. On the contrary, this year I was more focused and motivated to do a lot better."

Unfortunately, the 27-year-old failed to clear in the next successive attempt at 4.40m but finished the tournament on a high. On asked whether he was under pressure of breaking his own NR, the athlete replied, "I did not have much pressure when the height of the bar was raised to 5.40m instead I was confident that with good technique I can cross the mark. All these years, I have never worried (or have never been under pressure) about what height the bar is, rather I would focus on how to cross with the technique I have learnt."

Targets going ahead

"My main target for this year is the Asian Games. In between when the Federation Cup got preponed my training regime changed due to which getting to the peak took a bit of time but within this year, I am hoping to cross 5.70m or 5.80m. There are many competitions scheduled this year and I am confident by the end of this season I would have breached the specified mark," Siva iterated confidently.

The athlete started the season by competing at the Asian Indoor Athletics meet in February. He finished the continental meet by vaulting 5.15m and finished fifth overall. After the break of a few months, Siva participated in the Tamil Nadu State athletics meet and secured first place by breaching 5.05m.

"The state meet was just a trial and to be specific I wasn't targeting much. Many athletes take part in a few competitions prior to the important ones. With a similar mindset, I too wanted to take part and used the state meet as a trial. Every competition I attend there is something new to be learnt and similarly there were few learnings at the state meet as well.

Siva will now be heading to Bhubaneshwar and is all set to take part in the National Inter States athletics meet. He clinched the gold medal last year in Chennai and would look to hold on to the same this time. "In the inter states, I want to perform better than my PB mark and ultimately perform better than what anyone would expect from me. There is no specific target that I have set but I want to surprise the audience with my performance," he concluded.